Welcome Home, Soldier
by iheartgod175
Summary: Desert Flower hasn't been the same ever since her husband, Huckleberry Hound, was presumed dead during a deadly mission. She's been trying her best, though it's not easy for her or her daughter, Clementine. But that routine is interrupted by the most unexpected of guests. Modern-day AU. HuckleFlower.


**A/N:** Before I start, I just want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this talent and showing me how to use it, and for more importantly, for giving me a new year and a new start! Amen!

Happy New Year, everyone! And to celebrate it is my first story of 2017!

I was reading through some OTP prompts and out of nowhere, I got hit with some HuckleFlower feels. I actually haven't written about these two in a very long time, so I think that this little one-shot should get me back into the groove to write some more fics for these two. This one's a little more depressing than my last HuckleFlower fic, "A Welcome Distraction", but it does have a happy ending as well.

I hope you enjoy!

 **Title** : Welcome Home, Soldier

 **Genre** : Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Family

 **Summary** : Desert Flower hasn't been the same ever since her husband, Huckleberry Hound, was presumed dead during a deadly mission. Since then, she's been trying to find a routine that she can get into, though it's not easy on her or her daughter, Clementine. But that routine is interrupted by an unlikely guest. Modern-day AU. HuckleFlower.

 **Disclaimer:** I still don't own Huckleberry Hound or Desert Flower. I only own Clementine, Huck and Desert Flower's daughter.

* * *

 **Welcome Home, Soldier**

"Mommy, can you play with me after dinner?" young Clementine asked, her bright blue eyes looking up at her mother's aquamarine ones.

Desert Flower set aside the letters she'd received and turned to face her daughter. "Did you finish your homework yet?" she asked.

"Well...I finished working on my history project, and I finished my reading assignments for this week, too," Clementine answered.

Desert Flower folded her arms. "There's one more subject that you're forgetting, right?"

Clementine's face scrunched up and pouted. It was becoming a recurring sight as of late. "But Mommy-"

"No buts, Clementine," Desert Flower replied. "You know what Ms. Falconeri said about your math grades."

Clementine folded her arms, her lips still formed into a pout. "I hate math...especially long division," she muttered.

"I know math's not your favorite subject, sweetie, but you have to learn it," she said. "And you remember what I said would happen if you don't pull up those grades, right?"

Clementine nodded. "I won't get a new bike for my birthday," she said.

She nodded and kneeled down to her daughter's eye level. "How about you get your homework for me and bring in the kitchen? We can work on the problems that you're having trouble with together," she said. "And after that, I'll make dinner and we can play outside afterwards."

Clementine nodded. "Alright, Mommy," she said. "I'll be right back!" And with that, the girl rushed up the stairs, her blonde ponytails bouncing as she did so.

Sighing, Desert Flower got up from the floor and turned back to the stack of bills on the table. These would have to wait until tonight, she decided, gathering them and placing them in the basket next to her computer. She heard the sounds of shuffling from upstairs, and half expected a call to ask if she'd found what she'd been looking for.

But no such call came. And Desert Flower knew, with a sinking feeling in her chest, that there would be no such call again for as long as both of them lived.

Because the person who would've called out was long gone, and had been gone for a few months.

Her dear and loving husband, Huckleberry Hound, who'd served as a soldier in the war, had been killed in action—or at least, that was what his division presumed. From the details that she'd been given in the letter, the truck that he'd been transported in had exploded, rigged by a terrorist cell. Only a handful of people had survived the attack, but his body was never found; his commander, Fritz Bullhorn, had assumed that his body had been burned in the gasoline-fueled flames. Huck's longtime friend and fellow squadmate Yogi Bear had come to bring her Huck's belongings after he'd returned home.

The news and the gifts had devastated Desert Flower, and for a month she'd secluded herself, refusing to go to work or do anything in her grief-stricken state. It wasn't until bills came in and her daughter started to get into trouble in school that she managed to get herself back into a working routine, though it was still hard to manage. Her job as a waitress was hardly enough, so she'd had to take on additional jobs to pay off her bills and keep her daughter clothed, fed and taken care of. Clementine, whom they'd adopted a few months before Huck was stationed in Iraq, had been Huck's pride and joy ever since they learned that they couldn't have kids of their own. To neglect her would be an injustice to both herself and Huck, she knew.

And so, she kept going, despite the hurt, despite the pain, despite the stress. There were more important matters to attend to, and she couldn't spend the rest of her life grieving forever.

A little while later, Clementine bounded down the stairs, her math notebook in hand. "Sorry it took a while, Mommy," she said.

Desert Flower managed to smile, despite herself. "That's alright. At least you found it," she said, clearing off the other papers so her daughter could place her book. "Now, let's see what's got you in a stump, hm?"

* * *

 _A little over an hour later..._

The smell of frying hot dogs filled the living room, making Clementine's stomach growl. She looked up at her mother from her position on the floor in the living room. "Hey, Mommy, when's dinner gonna be ready?"

"In at least five minutes," her mother replied. She looked over at her. "And move back from the TV a bit, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," Clementine said, sighing. She scooted back, but just a little. Just as she turned to look back up at the commercial running across the screen, she heard the sound of someone knocking at the door. She turned to her mother. "Mommy, someone's at the door!"

"Can you see who it is, sweetie? I can't leave the stove yet," Desert Flower replied.

Clementine groaned—her show was about to come back on and she didn't feel like getting back up—but she did what she was asked and bounded over to the front door. As she was still too short to use the peephole, she unlocked the door and opened it, but just a crack.

The person on the doorstep made her gasp in shock. She then turned and ran into the kitchen, joy and surprise in her eyes. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy, come quick!"

Desert Flower turned towards her daughter with a look of annoyance. "Clementine, I just told you I can't come to the door right now!"

"But you have to! Daddy's home!" Clementine said, jumping up and down and tugging on her mother's hand. "Come on, you have to see!"

Desert Flower almost dropped the spoon into the frying pan. "What?" she gasped. "T-That's not true, Clementine. You know your father's gone..."

"But he's here again! He's outside on the doorsteps!"

Seeing as her daughter wasn't going to let go, Desert Flower turned down the heat on the stove and allowed herself to be dragged into the living room towards the door. Her daughter sometimes mistook people to be her father since some of them, especially Huck's relatives, had the same blue fur as he did. She only hoped that that was the case—if anybody was stupid enough to think that he could fool her daughter, she would have some choice words for him.

She walked over to the door, pulled it open, and promptly stopped in her tracks. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide.

Standing on her doorstep, with a five 'o clock shadow on his muzzle and shaggy hair on his head, was Huckleberry Hound. His brown eyes were filled with tiredness and his clothes were dirty and reeked of sweat and grime. He looked up at his wife and offered up his trademark friendly smile. "Sorry I've been gone a while, Desert Flower," he said.

Desert Flower's arms began to shake uncontrollably. Tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. "H-Huck...? Y-You're alive?"

Huck nodded. "I am, Desert Flower. And I wanted to be the first one ta tell ya that-"

With teary eyes, she then reached up and struck him across the face, so hard that the resounding crack could've been heard from a block away. Clementine let out a squeak in shock, her eyes wide as she stared at her mother, who was glaring at her father with teary, angry eyes, and then at her father, who was moving his jaw from side to side, holding his cheek with his left paw.

"M-Mommy?" Clementine asked.

"It's alright, Emmy," Huck answered, focused on Desert Flower. He didn't seem angry that his wife had slapped him; in fact, she noticed that there was resignation in his light brown eyes. "I kinda deserved that..."

"Like heck you did," Desert Flower snapped. Her eyes were set into a fierce glare. "You...they told me t-that you were dead! Dead and _missing_ , Huck! Do you have any idea what's been going on through my mind since they sent me that letter?! Since Yogi brought your remaining things h-home?!"

"Desert Flower-"

"F-For days...f-for days, I-I could hardly do anything w-without thinking about you," she continued. Sobs racked her body. "I-It took me a month to pull myself together, f-for Emmy's sake. F-For my friends' sakes. Y-your _friends'_ sakes! A-And now...you just come back l-like you were gone for a few days and you expect me to act like that's _fine_?!"

She raised a hand to once again slap him, but a tug on her shirt stopped her. _"Mommy!"_

Desert Flower whirled around to face Clementine, who then wrapped around her waist, her eyes shut tight. She shook her head back and forth, the corners of her eyes just beginning to form tears. "Mommy, don't hurt him anymore...please," she said. "He just came home. Don't make him go away. Please."

Those words took away her fury. Desert Flower lowered her arm and put a hand on her daughter's head. "It's alright, Emmy. I-I'm not going to hurt him anymore. I promise," she said. She then looked up at Huck, and his saddened expression broke her even more. "I...I'm so sorry, Huck. I don't know what came over me..."

"It's alright, Desert Flower," Huck said, smiling that same understanding smile that she loved, that she missed so much. "Reckon I would've been the same, only that I wouldn't lay a paw on ya. An' I know I have a lot of explainin' to do, but right about now, I'm jus' glad that you two are safe."

With her anger now gone, Desert Flower then pulled her husband into a tight embrace, crying all the tears she'd bottled up since his absence.

* * *

 _Later that evening..._

"Are ya asleep, Desert Flower?"

Desert Flower jolted out of bed, her book hitting the floor with a thump. It'd been so long without him in the house that she'd almost forgotten what his voice sounded like. "N-No, I'm not. You can come in, Huck," she said, picking up her book.

The door to their room opened and Huck walked in, setting his bag on the floor. He looked up at her, his smile as friendly as ever. "Sorry I took so long. Emmy wanted me ta tell her a story," he said, sitting on the bed to take off his shoes.

Desert Flower smiled, despite herself. Huck always had a wealth of stories to tell. "I bet she asked you to read 'The Galactic Goof-Up' again. She loves that story," she said.

"I would've, but that's not the story she asked me to tell," Huck answered, pushing his shoes under the bed.

"Oh?" Desert Flower replied. "What did she ask you to tell?"

"Well...she asked me ta tell her the story of how I came back from the dead," he answered.

Desert Flower stared at him with wide eyes. "Is that what she actually said?"

"Yup. I told her that I wasn't dead the whole time, but then she wanted to know what really happened, an' well..." Huck's smile became pained. "Well...I reckon I wasn't right truthful to her."

"Huck..."

"Desert Flower, she's too young to hear about the things I went through," Huck said. "I don't want her to go to bed with nightmares."

Desert Flower got up from bed then to sit next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Huck-"

"Agh!" Huck cried out in pain and flinched, his back going rigid with pain. Upon seeing her face, he tried to mask his pain with a smile. "I-It's alright, Desert Flower. Jus' a little knot in my shoulder."

"Are you sure? Your reaction was pretty serious!" Desert Flower said, pulling back his shirt. She gasped when she saw the hint of red soaking through his shirt. Before Huck could protest, she pulled back the rest of his shirt, and her eyes widened when she saw the cut on his shoulder...and some marks on his back.

"Desert Flower, don't-"

"Take this off, Huck."

Huck looked at her as though she'd slapped him-again. "But Desert Flower-"

"Take off your shirt, or I'll do it for you!" she answered.

Huck stared at her for a few seconds more, and then he stood up with a sigh. "Alrighty...but I don't think you're gonna want to see this," he replied. Biting back a wince, he took off his shirt and tossed it on the bed.

Desert Flower cried out in shock when she saw the damage inflicted on Huck. The front of his chest was lined with scars that had torn away his fur, leaving large, red-lines across his chest. His back was even worse, and some of them had probably reopened; some of them were deeper, more painful. A few even looked recent, the lashes lined with scabs.

After a few seconds, Huck turned around to face her. His face was full of sorrow. "Now ya see why I couldn't tell Emmy about this? About what really happened to me? About how I was held captive an' tortured with hardly any food or water?" he said. The words were pouring out of him like a dam. "After that explosion, I blacked out. I knew I was still alive, 'cause every part of me was filled with pain. T-They...they tied me up, duct-taped my mouth shut an' then..." He grew quiet, and then started to shudder.

"Huck, you don't have to tell me everything..." Desert Flower said, standing up. Seeing him like this made her want to pull him into a hug, to squeeze every ounce of pain from his body. "You-"

"They tried ta...t-ta _skin me alive_ , D-Desert Flower..." With shaky legs, he made his way over to the bed. Tears were starting to leak from his eyes. "I-I actually have way more fur now t-than I did before..."

Desert Flower knelt before him. "Oh, Huck..."

"An' when I-I refused to let 'em have their way, they whipped me, or they tortured me by...by stabbin' me," he continued, the horror in his voice. "Sometimes they'd hit the same areas on purpose to make me feel even more pain."

"W-What about that spot on your shoulder?" she asked.

"G-Got that one several weeks ago," he answered. "A-An' you know the worst part?" He swallowed before continuing. "T-they told me that if I fought back, t-they'd kill me, an' then they'd kill my family, too."

Desert Flower shook her head. "Huck, t-they were just using that to get you to do what they wanted!"

"I know that now...but in a situation like that, w-what was I was s'pposed ta do? They have people everywhere, an' I wasn't gonna take that chance," he said. "So I endured it...'til one of the other squadrons from Bullhorn's division came in an' busted the whole operation. They flew me back t-to the camp to have me checked out, an' then later they flew me back to the United States." He looked down at her. "T-They sent you a letter sayin' that I-I was found an' I was alive. Didn't you get it?"

Desert Flower's eyes widened. "That letter...I-I did receive it a few days ago, but I thought it was a prank..."

"How can you think somethin' like that's a prank?"

"S-Someone, and I won't dare name who, decided to send me a letter similar to the one they sent me. They said in that letter that you were alive, that you were recuperating at a hospital not far from here. Naturally, I...I raced to see you, but the doctors told me that no such thing had happened," Desert Flower said. She wiped her eyes. "It was one of the worst days of my life..."

"And when you saw that letter the military sent ya, you thought it was another prank," Huck summarized.

Desert Flower nodded. "T-That's why I was so shocked to s-see you at the door...a-and why I kind of lost it earlier..."

"Like I said, I don't blame ya for bein' angry. I didn't wanna tell my friends without tellin' you," Huck said. "Besides, you know what T.C. woulda done to me."

Desert Flower let out a small chuckle. "You would've come back with claw marks on your face...or you could've been in jail for fighting him."

"An' then, there's the matter of our marriage, Desert Flower," he said. "I mean, since I was presumed dead by the military, I'm not legally your husband anymore..."

Desert Flower held his paw, resolve in her eyes. "We'll sort it out soon, Huck. But right now...we have one thing to take care of."

"And what's that?" Huck asked.

Desert Flower cupped his face in her hands and kissed his nose. "That's you, of course. You've suffered so much under the hands of enemy forces, Huck," she said. "I want to find a way to ease your suffering somehow."

"Aw, but Dezie, I-"

"No buts. First thing tomorrow, I'm taking you to the doctor's to get those wounds examined," she said. "And if you feel up to it, we can bring you over to your friends, okay?"

"Alright. But jus' take it one step at a time, alright, Desert Flower? I don't need to be overwhelmed," Huck said.

"I know. You did just come back. I'm not asking you to pick up right where we left off," she answered. "We'll take it slow until you're ready, alright?"

Huck wiped away his tears and smiled. "Thanks, Desert Flower."

"You're welcome. And I know it's a little late for this, but..." She got up and wrapped her arms around Huck, being careful not to squeeze too tightly. "Welcome home, soldier."

Huck returned the hug. "It's good ta be back, to be honest."

 **The End**

* * *

 ** _Here's the prompt that inspired me, from the blog what-if-your-otp (another OTP prompts blog):_**

 ** _Person B has been a wreck since receiving a letter that Person A was presumed dead by the military, but has been doing their best taking care of the child they had adopted not long before Person A had to leave. However, one night, while Person B is preparing dinner, they hear the child shout for them, saying that mommy/daddy was home. Person B dismisses it, knowing it couldn't be true. But when they feel arms around their waist and turn around, Person A is standing there, somehow back. You chose how._**

 ** _I took a few liberties with the prompt, but overall, I think I did pretty well. A little bit of this story was inspired by one of CooperGal24's stories, which had Huck as a soldier; he was married to Jewel and they already had their kids by that point. That story was much more lighthearted, but this one is not. Huck's torture was inspired by a story idea I had a while back for a HuckleFlower fantasy fic in which Huck was kind of like a selkie in that he was being tortured for his fur; I never did have the story written, mind you, but that part came to me while I was writing this. Either way, you can imagine why Huck didn't want to tell their daughter about what happened to him._**

 ** _Clementine, Huck's adopted daughter, was a character that I created on the whim after reading the prompt. I haven't quite come up with her appearance and history yet, but I imagine that in this universe, Huck and Desert Flower have tried to have kids of their own without success, and then later they met Clementine, who they later adopted. There's another prompt I found, which will explore this idea, although I think it'll be separate from this._**

 ** _And regarding Desert Flower's angry reaction, I think most people would be pretty upset if the person they've been grieving for a while came back._**

 ** _I hope you guys enjoyed this short story! Leave some constructive criticism, please!_**

 ** _God bless, iheartgod175_**


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